Smart antenna utilizing leaky wave antennas

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for a smart antenna utilizing leaky wave antennas (LWAs) are disclosed and may include a programmable polarization antenna including one or more pairs of LWAs configured along different axes. One or more pairs of leaky wave antennas may be configured to adjust polarization and/or polarity of one or more RF signals communicated by the programmable polarization antenna. RF signals may be communicated via the configured programmable polarization antenna utilizing the configured one or more pairs of the leaky wave antennas. A resonant frequency of the LWAs may be configured utilizing micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) deflection. The polarization and/or polarity may be configured utilizing switched phase modules. The LWAs may include microstrip or coplanar waveguides, wherein a cavity height of the LWAs is dependent on spacing between conductive lines in the waveguides. The LWAs may be integrated in one or more integrated circuits, packages, and/or printed circuit boards.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/797,316, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,432,326, filed Jun. 9, 2010.

This application makes reference to, claims the benefit from, and claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/246,618 filed onSep. 29, 2009, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/185,245filed on Jun. 9, 2009.

This application also makes reference to:

-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/650,212 filed on Dec. 30, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/650,295 filed on Dec. 30, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/650,277 filed on Dec. 30, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/650,192 filed on Dec. 30, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/650,224 filed on Dec. 30, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/650,176 filed on Dec. 30, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/650,246 filed on Dec. 30, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/650,292 filed on Dec. 30, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/650,324 filed on Dec. 30, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/708,366 filed on Feb. 18, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/751,550 filed on Mar. 31, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/751,768 filed on Mar. 31, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/751,759 filed on Mar. 31, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/751,593 filed on Mar. 31, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/751,772 filed on Mar. 31, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/751,777 filed on Mar. 31, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/751,782 filed on Mar. 31, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/751,792 filed on Mar. 31, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/790,279 filed on May 28, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,068 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,133 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,162 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,177 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,203 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/796,822 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,214 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/796,841 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,232 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/796,862 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/796,975 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,041 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,112 filed on even date    herewith;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,254 filed on even date    herewith; and-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,273 filed on even date    herewith.

Each of the above stated applications is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[Not Applicable]

MICROFICHE/COPYRIGHT REFERENCE

[Not Applicable]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to wireless communication.More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to amethod and system for a smart antenna utilizing leaky wave antennas.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mobile communications have changed the way people communicate and mobilephones have been transformed from a luxury item to an essential part ofevery day life. The use of mobile phones is today dictated by socialsituations, rather than hampered by location or technology. While voiceconnections fulfill the basic need to communicate, and mobile voiceconnections continue to filter even further into the fabric of every daylife, the mobile Internet is the next step in the mobile communicationrevolution. The mobile Internet is poised to become a common source ofeveryday information, and easy, versatile mobile access to this datawill be taken for granted.

As the number of electronic devices enabled for wireline and/or mobilecommunications continues to increase, significant efforts exist withregard to making such devices more power efficient. For example, a largepercentage of communications devices are mobile wireless devices andthus often operate on battery power. Additionally, transmit and/orreceive circuitry within such mobile wireless devices often account fora significant portion of the power consumed within these devices.Moreover, in some conventional communication systems, transmittersand/or receivers are often power inefficient in comparison to otherblocks of the portable communication devices. Accordingly, thesetransmitters and/or receivers have a significant impact on battery lifefor these mobile wireless devices.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth inthe remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method for a smart antenna utilizing leaky wave antennasas shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of thefigures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention,as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be morefully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary wireless system with leakywave antennas for configuring a smart antenna, which may be utilized inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary leaky wave antenna,in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a plan view of exemplarypartially reflective surfaces, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary phase dependence ofa leaky wave antenna, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary in-phase andout-of-phase beam shapes for a leaky wave antenna, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a leaky wave antenna withvariable input impedance feed points, in accordance with an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view ofcoplanar and microstrip waveguides, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating leaky wave antennas for configuring asmart antenna, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9A is a block diagram illustrating exemplary smart antennatransmitter and receiver stages, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention

FIG. 9B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary smart antenna, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary steps for configuringa smart antenna utilizing leaky wave antennas, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain aspects of the invention may be found in a method and system fora smart antenna utilizing leaky wave antennas. Exemplary aspects of theinvention may comprise a programmable polarization antenna including oneor more pairs of LWAs configured along different axes. One or more pairsof leaky wave antennas may be configured to adjust polarization and/orpolarity of one or more RF signals communicated by the programmablepolarization antenna. RF signals may be communicated via the configuredprogrammable polarization antenna utilizing the configured one or morepairs of the leaky wave antennas. A resonant frequency of one or more ofthe plurality of leaky wave antennas may be configured utilizingmicro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) deflection. The polarizationand/or polarity may be configured utilizing switched phase modules. Oneor more of the plurality of leaky wave antennas may comprise microstripwaveguides, wherein a cavity height of the one or more of the pluralityof leaky wave antennas is dependent on spacing between conductive linesin the microstrip waveguides. One or more of the plurality of leaky waveantennas may comprise coplanar waveguides, wherein a cavity height ofthe one or more of the plurality of leaky wave antennas is dependent onspacing between conductive lines in the coplanar waveguides. One or moreof the plurality of leaky wave antennas may be integrated in one or moreintegrated circuits, integrated circuit packages, and/or printed circuitboards.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary wireless system with leakywave antennas for configuring a smart antenna, which may be utilized inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, thewireless device 150 may comprise an antenna 151, a transceiver 152, abaseband processor 154, a processor 156, a system memory 158, a logicblock 160, a chip 162, leaky wave antennas 164A-164C, switches 165, anexternal headset port 166, and an integrated circuit package 167. Thewireless device 150 may also comprise an analog microphone 168,integrated hands-free (IHF) stereo speakers 170, a printed circuit board171, a hearing aid compatible (HAC) coil 174, a dual digital microphone176, a vibration transducer 178, a keypad and/or touchscreen 180, and adisplay 182.

The transceiver 152 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interface(s), and/or code that may be enabled to modulate and upconvertbaseband signals to RF signals for transmission by one or more antennas,which may be represented generically by the antenna 151. The transceiver152 may also be enabled to downconvert and demodulate received RFsignals to baseband signals. The RF signals may be received by one ormore antennas, which may be represented generically by the antenna 151,or the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C. Different wireless systems may usedifferent antennas for transmission and reception. The transceiver 152may be enabled to execute other functions, for example, filtering thebaseband and/or RF signals, and/or amplifying the baseband and/or RFsignals. Although a single transceiver 152 is shown, the invention isnot so limited. Accordingly, the transceiver 152 may be implemented as aseparate transmitter and a separate receiver. In addition, there may bea plurality of transceivers, transmitters and/or receivers. In thisregard, the plurality of transceivers, transmitters and/or receivers mayenable the wireless device 150 to handle a plurality of wirelessprotocols and/or standards including cellular, WLAN and PAN. Wirelesstechnologies handled by the wireless device 150 may comprise GSM, CDMA,CDMA2000, WCDMA, GMS, GPRS, EDGE, WIMAX, WLAN, 3GPP, UMTS, BLUETOOTH,and ZigBee, for example.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the transceiver 152 maycomprise polarity and phase selection capability to enable dynamicpolarization diversity of the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C. In thismanner, the phase and polarity of incoming signals, to the Rx from theantennas or to the Tx from the baseband processor, may be configured,thereby eliminating the need for baluns. In addition, by communicatingsignals with perpendicular polarization to perpendicular transmittingleaky wave antennas, a circularly polarized output may result.

The baseband processor 154 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interface(s), and/or code that may be enabled to process basebandsignals for transmission via the transceiver 152 and/or the basebandsignals received from the transceiver 152. The processor 156 may be anysuitable processor or controller such as a CPU, DSP, ARM, or any type ofintegrated circuit processor. The processor 156 may comprise suitablelogic, circuitry, and/or code that may be enabled to control theoperations of the transceiver 152 and/or the baseband processor 154. Forexample, the processor 156 may be utilized to update and/or modifyprogrammable parameters and/or values in a plurality of components,devices, and/or processing elements in the transceiver 152 and/or thebaseband processor 154. At least a portion of the programmableparameters may be stored in the system memory 158.

Control and/or data information, which may comprise the programmableparameters, may be transferred from other portions of the wirelessdevice 150, not shown in FIG. 1, to the processor 156. Similarly, theprocessor 156 may be enabled to transfer control and/or datainformation, which may include the programmable parameters, to otherportions of the wireless device 150, not shown in FIG. 1, which may bepart of the wireless device 150.

The processor 156 may utilize the received control and/or datainformation, which may comprise the programmable parameters, todetermine an operating mode of the transceiver 152. For example, theprocessor 156 may be utilized to select a specific frequency for a localoscillator, a specific gain for a variable gain amplifier, configure thelocal oscillator and/or configure the variable gain amplifier foroperation in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.Moreover, the specific frequency selected and/or parameters needed tocalculate the specific frequency, and/or the specific gain value and/orthe parameters, which may be utilized to calculate the specific gain,may be stored in the system memory 158 via the processor 156, forexample. The information stored in system memory 158 may be transferredto the transceiver 152 from the system memory 158 via the processor 156.

The system memory 158 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interface(s), and/or code that may be enabled to store a plurality ofcontrol and/or data information, including parameters needed tocalculate frequencies and/or gain, and/or the frequency value and/orgain value. The system memory 158 may store at least a portion of theprogrammable parameters that may be manipulated by the processor 156.

The logic block 160 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interface(s), and/or code that may enable controlling of variousfunctionalities of the wireless device 150. For example, the logic block160 may comprise one or more state machines that may generate signals tocontrol the transceiver 152 and/or the baseband processor 154. The logicblock 160 may also comprise registers that may hold data forcontrolling, for example, the transceiver 152 and/or the basebandprocessor 154. The logic block 160 may also generate and/or store statusinformation that may be read by, for example, the processor 156.Amplifier gains and/or filtering characteristics, for example, may becontrolled by the logic block 160.

The BT radio/processor 163 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic,interface(s), and/or code that may enable transmission and reception ofBluetooth signals. The BT radio/processor 163 may enable processingand/or handling of BT baseband signals. In this regard, the BTradio/processor 163 may process or handle BT signals received and/or BTsignals transmitted via a wireless communication medium. The BTradio/processor 163 may also provide control and/or feedback informationto/from the baseband processor 154 and/or the processor 156, based oninformation from the processed BT signals. The BT radio/processor 163may communicate information and/or data from the processed BT signals tothe processor 156 and/or to the system memory 158. Moreover, the BTradio/processor 163 may receive information from the processor 156and/or the system memory 158, which may be processed and transmitted viathe wireless communication medium a Bluetooth headset, for example

The CODEC 172 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic, interface(s),and/or code that may process audio signals received from and/orcommunicated to input/output devices. The input devices may be within orcommunicatively coupled to the wireless device 150, and may comprise theanalog microphone 168, the stereo speakers 170, the hearing aidcompatible (HAC) coil 174, the dual digital microphone 176, and thevibration transducer 178, for example. The CODEC 172 may be operable toup-convert and/or down-convert signal frequencies to desired frequenciesfor processing and/or transmission via an output device. The CODEC 172may enable utilizing a plurality of digital audio inputs, such as 16 or18-bit inputs, for example. The CODEC 172 may also enable utilizing aplurality of data sampling rate inputs. For example, the CODEC 172 mayaccept digital audio signals at sampling rates such as 8 kHz, 11.025kHz, 12 kHz, 16 kHz, 22.05 kHz, 24 kHz, 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, and/or 48 kHz.The CODEC 172 may also support mixing of a plurality of audio sources.For example, the CODEC 172 may support audio sources such as generalaudio, polyphonic ringer, I²S FM audio, vibration driving signals, andvoice. In this regard, the general audio and polyphonic ringer sourcesmay support the plurality of sampling rates that the audio CODEC 172 isenabled to accept, while the voice source may support a portion of theplurality of sampling rates, such as 8 kHz and 16 kHz, for example.

The chip 162 may comprise an integrated circuit with multiple functionalblocks integrated within, such as the transceiver 152, the processor156, the baseband processor 154, the BT radio/processor 163, and theCODEC 172. The number of functional blocks integrated in the chip 162 isnot limited to the number shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, any number ofblocks may be integrated on the chip 162 depending on chip space andwireless device 150 requirements, for example. The chip 162 may beflip-chip bonded, for example, to the package 167, as described furtherwith respect to FIG. 8.

The leaky wave antennas 164A-164C may comprise a resonant cavity with ahighly reflective surface and a lower reflectivity surface, and may beintegrated in and/or on the package 167. In addition, leaky waveantennas may be integrated on the package 167, thereby enablingcommunication between the package 167 and other packages on the printedcircuit board 171, as well as other printed circuit boards in thewireless device 150. The lower reflectivity surface may allow theresonant mode to “leak” out of the cavity. The lower reflectivitysurface of the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C may be configured withslots in a metal surface, or a pattern of metal patches, as describedfurther in FIGS. 2 and 3. The physical dimensions of the leaky waveantennas 164A-164C may be configured to optimize bandwidth oftransmission and/or the beam pattern radiated. By integrating the leakywave antennas 164B and 164C on the package 167 and/or the printedcircuit board 171, the dimensions of the leaky wave antennas 164B and164C may not be limited by the size of the chip 162.

The leaky wave antennas 164A-164C may be operable to transmit and/orreceive wireless signals at or near 60 GHz, for example, due to thecavity length of the devices being on the order of millimeters. Theleaky wave antennas 164A-164C may be configured to transmit at differentfrequencies by integrating leaky wave antennas with different cavityheights in the chip 162, the package 167, and/or the printed circuitboard 171.

The switches 165 may comprise switches such as CMOS or MEMS switchesthat may be operable to switch different antennas of the leaky waveantennas 164A-164C to the transceiver 152 and/or switch elements inand/or out of the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C, such as the patches andslots described in FIG. 3. In addition, the switches 165 may be operableto configure and/or select the polarity and phase of incoming signals tothe transceiver 152, as described further with respect to FIG. 9A. Inthis manner, dynamic polarization diversity may be enabled bydynamically adjusting the phase of Tx and Rx signals.

The external headset port 166 may comprise a physical connection for anexternal headset to be communicatively coupled to the wireless device150. The analog microphone 168 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic,interface(s), and/or code that may detect sound waves and convert themto electrical signals via a piezoelectric effect, for example. Theelectrical signals generated by the analog microphone 168 may compriseanalog signals that may require analog to digital conversion beforeprocessing.

The package 167 may comprise a ceramic package, a printed circuit board,or other support structure for the chip 162 and other components of thewireless device 150. In this regard, the chip 162 may be bonded to thepackage 167. The package 167 may comprise insulating and conductivematerial, for example, and may provide isolation between electricalcomponents mounted on the package 167. A mesh network may be enabled byintegrating leaky wave antennas on the chip 162, the package 167, and/orthe printed circuit board 171, thereby reducing or eliminating the needfor wire traces with stray impedances that reduce the distance signalsmay be communicated at higher frequencies, such as 60 GHz, for example.

The stereo speakers 170 may comprise a pair of speakers that may beoperable to generate audio signals from electrical signals received fromthe CODEC 172. The HAC coil 174 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic,and/or code that may enable communication between the wireless device150 and a T-coil in a hearing aid, for example. In this manner,electrical audio signals may be communicated to a user that utilizes ahearing aid, without the need for generating sound signals via aspeaker, such as the stereo speakers 170, and converting the generatedsound signals back to electrical signals in a hearing aid, andsubsequently back into amplified sound signals in the user's ear, forexample.

The dual digital microphone 176 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic,interface(s), and/or code that may be operable to detect sound waves andconvert them to electrical signals. The electrical signals generated bythe dual digital microphone 176 may comprise digital signals, and thusmay not require analog to digital conversion prior to digital processingin the CODEC 172. The dual digital microphone 176 may enable beamformingcapabilities, for example.

The vibration transducer 178 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic,interface(s), and/or code that may enable notification of an incomingcall, alerts and/or message to the wireless device 150 without the useof sound. The vibration transducer may generate vibrations that may bein synch with, for example, audio signals such as speech or music.

In operation, control and/or data information, which may comprise theprogrammable parameters, may be transferred from other portions of thewireless device 150, not shown in FIG. 1, to the processor 156.Similarly, the processor 156 may be enabled to transfer control and/ordata information, which may include the programmable parameters, toother portions of the wireless device 150, not shown in FIG. 1, whichmay be part of the wireless device 150.

The processor 156 may utilize the received control and/or datainformation, which may comprise the programmable parameters, todetermine an operating mode of the transceiver 152. For example, theprocessor 156 may be utilized to select a specific frequency for a localoscillator, a specific gain for a variable gain amplifier, configure thelocal oscillator and/or configure the variable gain amplifier foroperation in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.Moreover, the specific frequency selected and/or parameters needed tocalculate the specific frequency, and/or the specific gain value and/orthe parameters, which may be utilized to calculate the specific gain,may be stored in the system memory 158 via the processor 156, forexample. The information stored in system memory 158 may be transferredto the transceiver 152 from the system memory 158 via the processor 156.

The CODEC 172 in the wireless device 150 may communicate with theprocessor 156 in order to transfer audio data and control signals.Control registers for the CODEC 172 may reside within the processor 156.The processor 156 may exchange audio signals and control information viathe system memory 158. The CODEC 172 may up-convert and/or down-convertthe frequencies of multiple audio sources for processing at a desiredsampling rate.

The frequency of the transmission and/or reception of the leaky waveantennas 164A-164C may be determined by the cavity height of theantennas. Accordingly, the reflective surfaces may be integrated atdifferent heights or lateral spacing in the package, thereby configuringleaky wave antennas with different resonant frequencies.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the resonant cavityfrequency of the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C may be configured bytuning the cavity height using MEMS actuation. Accordingly, a biasvoltage may be applied such that one or both of the reflective surfacesof the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C may be deflected by the appliedpotential. In this manner, the cavity height, and thus the resonantfrequency of the cavity, may be configured. Similarly, the patterns ofslots and/or patches in the partially reflected surface may beconfigured by the switches 165.

The leaky wave antennas 164A-164C may be operable to transmit and/orreceive signals between and among the chip 162, the package 167, theprinted circuit board 171, and other devices within and external to thewireless device 150. In this manner, high frequency traces to anexternal antenna, such as the antenna 151, may be reduced and/oreliminated for higher frequency signals. By communicating a signal to betransmitted from the chip 162 to the leaky wave antennas 164B and/or164C through bump bonds coupling the chip 162 to the package 167 and thepackage 167 to the printed circuit 171, or other chips to the package167, high frequency traces may be further reduced.

The leaky wave antennas 164A-164C may be utilized to provide a smartantenna with dynamic polarization diversity. The transceiver 152 maycomprise polarity and phase selection capability that may eliminate theneed for baluns. Accordingly, the phase of signals to be transmitted, orthe phase of different received signals, may be shifted by 0, 180,and/or +/− 90 degrees, thereby enabling dynamic polarization diversity.Similarly, by transmitting signals with 90 degree polarizationdifference from perpendicularly oriented leaky wave antennas, acircularly polarized signal may result.

Different frequency signals may be transmitted and/or received by theleaky wave antennas 164A-164C by selectively coupling the transceiver152 to leaky wave antennas with different cavity heights. For example,leaky wave antennas with reflective surfaces on the top and the bottomof the package 167 or the printed circuit board 171 may have the largestcavity height, and thus provide the lowest resonant frequency.Conversely, leaky wave antennas with a reflective surface on the surfaceof the chip 162, the package 167, or the printed circuit board 171 andanother reflective surface just below the surface, may provide a higherresonant frequency. The selective coupling may be enabled by theswitches 165 and/or CMOS devices in the chip 162.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary leaky wave antenna,in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2,there is shown the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C comprising a partiallyreflective surface 201A, a reflective surface 201B, and a feed point203. The space between the partially reflective surface 201A and thereflective surface 201B may be filled with dielectric material, forexample, and the height, h, between the partially reflective surface201A and the reflective surface 201B may be utilized to configure thefrequency of transmission of the leaky wave antennas 164. In anotherembodiment of the invention, an air gap may be integrated in the spacebetween the partially reflective surface 201A and the reflective surface201B to enable MEMS actuation. There is also shown(micro-electromechanical systems) MEMS bias voltages, +V_(MEMS) and−V_(MEMS).

The feed point 203 may comprise an input terminal for applying an inputvoltage to the leaky wave antennas 164. The invention is not limited toa single feed point 203, as there may be any amount of feed points fordifferent phases of signal or a plurality of signal sources, forexample, to be applied to the leaky wave antennas 164.

In an embodiment of the invention, the height, h, may be one-half thewavelength of the desired transmitted mode from the leaky wave antennas164. In this manner, the phase of an electromagnetic mode that traversesthe cavity twice may be coherent with the input signal at the feed point203, thereby configuring a resonant cavity known as a Fabry-Perotcavity. The magnitude of the resonant mode may decay exponentially inthe lateral direction from the feed point 203, thereby reducing oreliminating the need for confinement structures to the sides of theleaky wave antennas 164. The input impedance of the leaky wave antennas164 may be configured by the vertical placement of the feed point 203,as described further in FIG. 6.

In operation, a signal to be transmitted via a power amplifier in thetransceiver 152 may be communicated to the feed point 203 of the leakywave antennas 164A-164C with a frequency f. The cavity height, h, may beconfigured to correlate to one half the wavelength of a harmonic of thesignal of frequency f. The signal may traverse the height of the cavityand may be reflected by the partially reflective surface 201A, and thentraverse the height back to the reflective surface 201B. Since the wavewill have travelled a distance corresponding to a full wavelength,constructive interference may result and a resonant mode may thereby beestablished.

Leaky wave antennas may enable the configuration of high gain antennaswithout the need for a large array of antennas which require a complexfeed network and suffer from loss due to feed lines. The leaky waveantennas 164A-164C may be operable to transmit and/or receive wirelesssignals via conductive layers in and/or on the chip 162, the package167, and/or the printed circuit board 171. In this manner, the resonantfrequency of the cavity may cover a wide range due to the large range ofsizes available with the printed circuit board 171 down to the chip 162,without requiring large areas needed for conventional antennas andassociated circuitry. In addition, by integrating leaky wave antennas ina plurality of packages on one or more printed circuit boards, a meshnetwork between chips, packages, and or printed circuit boards may beenabled.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the frequency oftransmission and/or reception of the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C maybe configured by selecting one of the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C withthe appropriate cavity height for the desired frequency.

In another embodiment of the invention, the cavity height, h, may beconfigured by MEMS actuation. For example, the bias voltages +V_(MEMS)and −V_(MEMS) may deflect one or both of the reflective surfaces 201Aand 201B compared to zero bias, thereby configuring the resonantfrequency of the cavity.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a plan view of exemplarypartially reflective surfaces, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a partially reflectivesurface 300 comprising periodic slots in a metal surface, and apartially reflective surface 320 comprising periodic metal patches. Thepartially reflective surfaces 300/320 may comprise different embodimentsof the partially reflective surface 201A described with respect to FIG.2.

The spacing, dimensions, shape, and orientation of the slots and/orpatches in the partially reflective surfaces 300/320 may be utilized toconfigure the bandwidth, and thus Q-factor, of the resonant cavitydefined by the partially reflective surfaces 300/320 and a reflectivesurface, such as the reflective surface 201B, described with respect toFIG. 2. The partially reflective surfaces 300/320 may thus comprisefrequency selective surfaces due to the narrow bandwidth of signals thatmay leak out of the structure as configured by the slots and/or patches.

The spacing between the patches and/or slots may be related towavelength of the signal transmitted and/or received, which may besomewhat similar to beamforming with multiple antennas. The length ofthe slots and/or patches may be several times larger than the wavelengthof the transmitted and/or received signal or less, for example, sincethe leakage from the slots and/or regions surround the patches may addup, similar to beamforming with multiple antennas.

In an embodiment of the invention, the slots/patches may be configuredvia CMOS and/or micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) switches, such asthe switches 165 described with respect to FIG. 1, to tune the Q of theresonant cavity. The slots and/or patches may be configured inconductive layers in and/or on the package 167 and may be shortedtogether or switched open utilizing the switches 165. In this manner, RFsignals, such as 60 GHz signals, for example, may be transmitted fromvarious locations without the need for additional circuitry andconventional antennas with their associated circuitry that requirevaluable chip space.

In another embodiment of the invention, the slots or patches may beconfigured in conductive layers in a vertical plane of the chip 162, thepackage 167, and/or the printed circuit board 171, thereby enablingcommunication of wireless signals in a horizontal direction in thestructure.

The partially reflective surfaces 300/320 may be integrated in and/or onthe chip 162, the package 167, and/or the printed circuit board 171. Inthis manner, different frequency signals may be transmitted and/orreceived. Accordingly, a partially reflective surface 300/320 integratedwithin the chip 162, the package 167, and/or the printed circuit board171 and a reflective surface 201B may transmit and/or receive signals ata higher frequency signal than from a resonant cavity defined by apartially reflective surface 300/320 on surface of the chip 162, thepackage 167, and/or the printed circuit board 171 and a reflectivesurface 201B on the other surface of the chip 162, the package 167,and/or the printed circuit board 171.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary phase dependence ofa leaky wave antenna, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a leaky wave antenna comprising thepartially reflective surface 201A, the reflective surface 201B, and thefeed point 203. In-phase condition 400 illustrates the relative beamshape transmitted by the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C when thefrequency of the signal communicated to the feed point 203 matches thatof the resonant cavity as defined by the cavity height, h, and thedielectric constant of the material between the reflective surfaces.

Similarly, out-of-phase condition 420 illustrates the relative beamshape transmitted by the leaky wave antennas 164A-164C when thefrequency of the signal communicated to the feed point 203 does notmatch that of the resonant cavity. The resulting beam shape may beconical, as opposed to a single main vertical node. These areillustrated further with respect to FIG. 5. The leaky wave antennas164A-164C may be integrated at various heights in the chip 162, thepackage 167, printed circuit board 171, thereby providing a plurality oftransmission and reception sites in the chip 162, the package 167,printed circuit board 171 with varying resonant frequency.

By configuring the leaky wave antennas for in-phase and out-of-phaseconditions, signals possessing different characteristics may be directedout of the chip 162, the package 167, printed circuit board 171 indesired directions, thereby enabling wireless communication between aplurality of locations within the wireless device and external to thewireless device 150. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, theangle at which signals may be transmitted by a leaky wave antenna may bedynamically controlled so that signal may be directed to desiredreceiving leaky wave antennas. In another embodiment of the invention,the leaky wave antennas 164 may be operable to receive RE signals, suchas 60 GHz signals, for example. The direction in which the signals arereceived may be configured by the in-phase and out-of-phase conditions.Leaky wave antennas may be utilized to configure a smart antenna whereeach of a plurality of antennas may be configured along perpendicularaxes. By controlling the phase and polarity of feed signals to eachantenna, dynamic polarization diversity may be enabled, and also mayeliminate the requirement of a balun for converting balanced tounbalanced signals, and vice versa.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary in-phase andout-of-phase beam shapes for a leaky wave antenna, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a plot500 of transmitted signal beam shape versus angle, Θ, for the in-phaseand out-of-phase conditions for a leaky wave antenna.

The In-phase curve in the plot 500 may correlate to the case where thefrequency of the signal communicated to a leaky wave antenna matches theresonant frequency of the cavity. In this manner, a single vertical mainnode may result. In instances where the frequency of the signal at thefeed point is not at the resonant frequency, a double, or conical-shapednode may be generated as shown by the Out-of-phase curve in the plot500. By configuring the leaky wave antennas for in-phase andout-of-phase conditions, signals may be directed out of the chip 162,the package 167, and/or the printed circuit board 171 in desireddirections.

In another embodiment of the invention, the leaky wave antennas164A-164C may be operable to receive wireless signals, and may beconfigured to receive from a desired direction via the in-phase andout-of-phase configurations, thereby enabling the configuration of smartantennas in the wireless device 150.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a leaky wave antenna withvariable input impedance feed points, in accordance with an embodimentof the invention. Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown a leaky waveantenna 600 comprising the partially reflective surface 201A and thereflective surface 201B. There is also shown feed points 601A-601C. Thefeed points 601A-601C may be located at different positions along theheight, h, of the cavity thereby configuring different impedance pointsfor the leaky wave antenna.

In this manner, a leaky wave antenna may be utilized to couple to aplurality of power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, and/or othercircuitry with varying output or input impedances. Similarly, byintegrating leaky wave antennas in conductive layers in the chip, 162,package 167, and/or the printed circuit board 171, the impedance of theleaky wave antenna may be matched to the power amplifier or low-noiseamplifier without impedance variations that may result with conventionalantennas and their proximity or distance to associated driverelectronics. Similarly, by integrating reflective and partiallyreflective surfaces with varying cavity heights and varying feed points,leaky wave antennas with different impedances and resonant frequenciesmay be enabled. In an embodiment of the invention, the heights of thefeed points 601A-601C may be configured by MEMS actuation.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view ofcoplanar and microstrip waveguides, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention. Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown a microstripwaveguide 720 and a coplanar waveguide 730 and a support structure 701.The microstrip waveguide 720 may comprise signal conductive lines 723, aground plane 725, a resonant cavity 711A, and an insulating layer 727.The coplanar waveguide 730 may comprise signal conductive lines 731 and733, a resonant cavity 711B, the insulating layer 727, and a multi-layersupport structure 701. The support structure 701 may comprise the chip162, the package 167, and/or the printed circuit board 171.

The signal conductive lines 723, 731, and 733 may comprise metal tracesor layers deposited in and/or on the insulating layer 727. In anotherembodiment of the invention, the signal conductive lines 723, 731, and733 may comprise poly-silicon or other conductive material. Theseparation and the voltage potential between the signal conductive line723 and the ground plane 725 may determine the electric field generatedtherein. In addition, the dielectric constant of the insulating layer727 may also determine the electric field between the signal conductiveline 723 and the ground plane 725.

The resonant cavities 711A and 711B may comprise the insulating layer727, an air gap, or a combination of an air gap and the insulating layer727, thereby enabling MEMS actuation and thus frequency tuning.

The insulating layer 727 may comprise SiO₂ or other insulating materialthat may provide a high resistance layer between the signal conductiveline 723 and the ground plane 725, and the signal conductive lines 731and 733. In addition, the electric field between the signal conductiveline 723 and the ground plane 725 may be dependent on the dielectricconstant of the insulating layer 727.

The thickness and the dielectric constant of the insulating layer 727may determine the electric field strength generated by the appliedsignal. The resonant cavity thickness of a leaky wave antenna may bedependent on the spacing between the signal conductive line 723 and theground plane 725, or the signal conductive lines 731 and 733, forexample.

The signal conductive lines 731 and 733, and the signal conductive line723 and the ground plane 725 may define resonant cavities for leaky waveantennas. Each layer may comprise a reflective surface or a partiallyreflective surface depending on the pattern of conductive material. Forexample, a partially reflective surface may be configured by alternatingconductive and insulating material in a desired pattern. In this manner,signals may be directed out of, or received into, a surface of the chip162, the package 167, and/or the printed circuit board 171, asillustrated with the microstrip waveguide 720. In another embodiment ofthe invention, signals may be communicated in the horizontal plane ofthe chip 162, the package 167, and/or the printed circuit board 171utilizing the coplanar waveguide 730.

The support structure 701 may provide mechanical support for themicrostrip waveguide 720, the coplanar waveguide 730, and other devicesthat may be integrated within. In another embodiment of the invention,the chip 162, the packages 167A-167D, and/or the printed circuit board171 may comprise Si, GaAs, sapphire, InP, GaO, ZnO, CdTe, CdZnTe,ceramics, polytetrafluoroethylene, and/or Al₂O₃, for example, or anyother substrate material that may be suitable for integrating microstripstructures.

In operation, a bias and/or a signal voltage may be applied across thesignal conductive line 723 and the ground plane 725, and/or the signalconductive lines 731 and 733. The thickness of a leaky wave antennaresonant cavity may be dependent on the distance between the conductivelines in the microstrip waveguide 720 and/or the coplanar transmissionwaveguide 730.

By alternating patches of conductive material with insulating material,or slots of conductive material in dielectric material, a partiallyreflective surface may result, which may allow a signal to “leak out” inthat direction, as shown by the Leaky Wave arrows in FIG. 7. In thismanner, wireless signals may be directed out of the surface plane of thesupport structure 701, or parallel to the surface of the supportstructure 701.

Similarly, by sequentially placing the conductive signal lines 731 and733 with different spacing, different cavity heights may result, andthus different resonant frequencies, thereby forming a distributed leakywave antenna. In this manner, a plurality of signals at differentfrequencies may be transmitted from, or received by, the distributedleaky wave antenna.

By integrating the conductive signal lines 731 and 733 and the groundplane 725 in the chip, 162, package 167, and/or the printed circuitboard 171, a wireless mesh network in the wireless device may beenabled. Wireless signals may be communicated between structures in thehorizontal or vertical planes depending on which type of leaky waveantenna is enabled, such as a coplanar or microstrip structure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating leaky wave antennas for configuring asmart antenna, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention,Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown metal layers 801A-801L, solder balls803, thermal epoxy 807, leaky wave antennas 809A-809F, and metalinterconnects 811A-811C. The chip 162, the package 167, and the printedcircuit board 171 may be as described previously.

The chip 162, or integrated circuit, may comprise one or more componentsand/or systems within the wireless system 150. The chip 162 may bebump-bonded or flip-chip bonded to the package 167 utilizing the solderballs 803. Similarly, the package 167 may be flip-chip bonded to theprinted circuit board 171. In this manner, wire bonds connecting thechip 162 to the package 167 and the package 167 to the printed circuitboard 171 may be eliminated, thereby reducing and/or eliminatinguncontrollable stray inductances due to wire bonds, for example. Inaddition, the thermal conductance out of the chip 162 may be greatlyimproved utilizing the solder balls 803 and the thermal epoxy 807. Thethermal epoxy 807 may be electrically insulating but thermallyconductive to allow for thermal energy to be conducted out of the chip162 to the much larger thermal mass of the package 167.

The metal layers 801A-801L and the metal interconnects 811A-811C maycomprise deposited metal layers utilized to delineate and couple toleaky wave antennas in and/or on the chip 162, the package 167, and theprinted circuit board 171. The leaky wave antennas 809A-809F may beutilized to configure smart antennas, as described with respect to FIGS.9A and 9B. In addition, the leaky wave antenna 809F may compriseconductive and insulating layers integrated in and/or on the printedcircuit board 171 extending into the cross-sectional view plane toenable communication of signals horizontally in the plane of the printedcircuit board 171, as illustrated by the coplanar waveguide 730described with respect to FIG. 7. This coplanar structure may also beutilized in the chip 162 and/or the package 167, thereby enabling theconfiguration of smart antennas radiating in a horizontal direction.

In an embodiment of the invention, the spacing between pairs of metallayers, for example 801A and 801B, 801C and 801D, 801E and 801F, and801G and 801H, may define vertical resonant cavities of leaky waveantennas. In this regard, a partially reflective surface, as shown inFIGS. 2 and 3, for example, may enable the resonant electromagnetic modein the cavity to leak out from that surface.

The metal layers 801A-801J comprising the leaky wave antennas 809A-809Emay comprise microstrip structures as described with respect to FIG. 7.The region between the metal layers 801A-801L may comprise a resistivematerial that may provide electrical isolation between the metal layers801A-801L thereby creating a resonant cavity. In an embodiment of theinvention, the region between the metal layers 801A-801L may compriseair and/or a combination of air and dielectric material, therebyenabling MEMS actuation of the metal layers 801A-801L.

The number of metal layers is not limited to the number of metal layers801A-801L shown in FIG. 8. Accordingly, there may be any number oflayers embedded within and/or on the chip 162, the package 167, and/orthe printed circuit board 171, depending on the number of leaky waveantennas, traces, waveguides and other devices fabricated.

The solder balls 803 may comprise spherical balls of metal to provideelectrical, thermal and physical contact between the chip 162, thepackage 167, and/or the printed circuit board 171. In making the contactwith the solder balls 803, the chip 162 and/or the package 167 may bepressed with enough force to squash the metal spheres somewhat, and maybe performed at an elevated temperature to provide suitable electricalresistance and physical bond strength. The thermal epoxy 807 may fillthe volume between the solder balls 803 and may provide a high thermalconductance path for heat transfer out of the chip 162.

In operation, the chip 162 may comprise an RF front end, such as the RFtransceiver 152, described with respect to FIG. 1, and may be utilizedto transmit and/or receive RF signals, at 60 GHz, for example. The chip162 may be electrically coupled to the package 167. The package 167 maybe electrically coupled to the printed circuit board 171. In instanceswhere high frequency signals, 60 GHz or greater, for example, may becommunicated, leaky wave antennas in the chip 162, the package 167,and/or the printed circuit board 171 may be utilized to transmit signalsto external devices.

Lower frequency signals may be communicated via leaky wave antennas withlarger resonant cavity heights, such as the leaky wave antenna 809Eintegrated in the printed circuit board 171. However, higher frequencysignal signals may also be communicated from leaky wave antennasintegrated in the printed circuit board 171 by utilizing coplanarwaveguide leaky wave antennas, such as the leaky wave antenna 809F, orby utilizing microstrip waveguide leaky wave antennas with lower cavityheights, such as the leaky wave antenna 809D.

The leaky wave antenna 809F may comprise a coplanar waveguide structure,and may be operable to communicate wireless signals in the horizontalplane, parallel to the surface of the printed circuit board 171. In thismanner, signals may be communicated between laterally situatedstructures without the need to run lossy electrical signal lines,thereby enabling the configuration of a smart antenna capable oftransmitting and receiving in a horizontal plane. Coplanar waveguides onthinner structures, such as the chip 162, may have electromagnetic fieldlines that extend into the substrate, which can cause excessiveabsorption in lower resistivity substrates, such as silicon. For thisreason, microstrip waveguides with a large ground plane may be used withlossy substrates. However, coplanar structures can be used when a highresistivity substrate is utilized for the chip 162.

The leaky wave antennas 809A-809E may comprise microstrip waveguidestructures, for example, that may be operable to wirelessly communicatesignals perpendicular to the plane of the supporting structure, such asthe chip 162, the package 167, and the printed circuit board 171. Inthis manner, wireless signals may be communicated between the chip 162,the package 167, and the printed circuit board 171, and also to devicesexternal to the wireless device 150 in the vertical direction, therebyallowing the configuration of smart antennas capable of transmittingand/or receiving signals in particular directions such as a verticaldirection, and/or with different polarizations.

The integration of leaky wave antennas in the chip 162, the package 167,and the printed circuit board 171 may result in the reduction of strayimpedances when compared to wire-bonded connections between structuresas in conventional systems, particularly for higher frequencies, such as60 GHz. In this manner, volume requirements may be reduced andperformance may be improved due to lower losses and accurate control ofimpedances via switches in the chip 162 or on the package 167, forexample.

The leaky wave antennas 809A-809F may be utilized to provide a smartantenna with dynamic polarization diversity. A transceiver in the chip162, such as the transceiver 152, may comprise polarity and phaseselection capability that may eliminate the need for baluns.Accordingly, the phase of signals to be transmitted, or the phase ofdifferent received signals, may be shifted by 0, 180, and/or +/−90degrees, thereby enabling dynamic polarization diversity. Similarly, bytransmitting signals with 90 degree polarization difference fromperpendicularly oriented leaky wave antennas, a circularly polarizedsignal may result.

FIG. 9A is a block diagram illustrating exemplary smart antennatransmitter and receiver stages, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 9A, there is shown a smart antenna circuit900 comprising leaky wave antennas 901A-901D, amplifiers 903A-903F, andpolarity/phase select modules 905A and 905B. There is also shown atransmitter input signal, Tx, and receiver output signal, Rx. Thepolarity/phase select modules 905A and 905B may comprise polarity selectswitches S1-S8, 0/180° phase modules 907A and 907B, and +/−90° phasemodules 909A and 909B.

The leaky wave antennas 901A-901D may be substantially similar to theleaky wave antennas 164A-164C and 809A-809F, and may be integrated inthe chip 162, the package 167, and/or the printed circuit board 171, forexample. The leaky wave antennas 901A-901D may be configured to belocated along perpendicular axes, as shown in FIG. 9B, to provide asmart antenna with programmable polarization diversity.

The amplifiers 903A-903B may comprise suitable circuitry, logic,interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to amplify received RFsignals. For example, the amplifiers 903A and 903B may compriselow-noise amplifiers (LNAs) in an Rx path for amplifying RE signalsreceived by the leaky wave antennas 901A-901D. Similarly, the amplifiers903C and 903D may comprise power amplifiers (PAs) in a Tx path foramplifying signals to be transmitted by the leaky wave antennas901A-901D. The amplifiers 903E and 903F, along with the polarity/phaseselect modules 905A and 905B, may enable conversion of balanced tounbalanced signals, and vice versa, as desired.

The switches S1-S8 may comprise CMOS or MEMS switches, for example, thatmay be operable to select which phase module receives a desired inputsignal. For example, the switches S1 and S4 may concurrently close withS2 and S3 being open, to couple the output of the amplifier 903A to the0/180° phase module 907A and the output of the amplifier 903B to the+/−90° phase module 909A. Alternatively, the switches S2 and S3 mayconcurrently close with S1 and S4 being open, to couple the output ofthe amplifier 903A to the +/−90° phase module 909A and the output of theamplifier 903B to the 0/180° phase module 907A. A similar configurationmay be utilized for the polarity/phase select module 905B and theamplifiers 903C and 903D, with switches S5 and S8 switching open andclosed concurrently.

The 0/180° phase modules 907A and 90713 may comprise suitable circuitry,logic, interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to provide a phaseshift of 0 or 180 degrees to a received signal. Similarly, the +/−90°phase modules 909A and 909B may comprise suitable circuitry, logic,interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to provide a phase shift of+/−90 degrees to a received signal.

In operation, a signal to be transmitted, Tx, may be communicated to anon-inverting input of the amplifier 903F, with the inverting inputcoupled to ground. The amplified differential output may be communicatedto the polarity/phase select module 905B. In an exemplary embodiment,the switches S5 and S8 may be closed and the switches S6 and S7 open,thereby coupling the output associated with the non-inverting input tothe 0/180° phase module 907B, and the output associated with theinverting input to the +/−90° phase module 909B. An alternativeembodiment of the invention may comprise the switches S5 and S8 beingopen while the switches S6 and S7 are closed.

The 0/180° phase module 907B and the +/−90° phase module 909B mayincorporate a 0/180 and +/90 degree phase shift to the received signalsand communicate the phase-shifted outputs to the amplifiers 903C and903D, respectively. The amplifiers 903C and 903D coupled in common-modemay amplify the received signals with the amplified differential outputsignals being communicated to the leaky wave antennas 901A-901D fortransmission.

By configuring the phase of the signals communicated to each of theleaky wave antennas 901A-901D, dynamic polarization diversity may beenabled. In addition, by providing for alternating polarity of inputsignals by the switches S1-S8, a balun may not be required to generatebalanced signals for transmission nor for receiving balanced signalsfrom the antennas.

Similarly, the leaky wave antennas 901A-901D may receive RE signals, andcommunicate the received signals to the amplifiers 903A and 903B. Theamplified outputs associated with the non-inverting inputs may becommunicated to the polarity/phase select module 905A. In an exemplaryembodiment, the switches S1 and S4 may be closed and the switches S2 andS3 open, thereby coupling the output associated with the non-invertinginput of the amplifier 903A to the 0/180° phase module 907A, and theoutput associated with the non-inverting input of the amplifier 903B tothe +/−90° phase module 909A. The 0/180° phase module 907A and the+/−90° phase module 909A may incorporate a 0/180 and +/90 degree phaseshift to the received signals and communicate the phase-shifted outputsto the amplifier 903E configured in differential input mode and theoutput corresponding to the inverting input coupled to ground, therebygenerating an amplified unbalanced output, Rx, for further processing.

FIG. 9B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary smart antenna, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 9B,there is shown a smart antenna 910 comprising a support structure 701that comprise an RF front end 911 and the leaky wave antennas 901A-901D.The support structure 701 may be as described with respect to FIG. 7 andmay comprise the chip 162, the package 167, and/or the printed circuitboard 171. In another embodiment of the invention, the RF front end 911may be integrated in the chip 162 and the leaky wave antennas 901A-901Dmay be integrated on the package 167 and/or the printed circuit board171.

The RF front end 911 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic, interfaces,and/or code that may be operable to process RF signals received by theleaky wave antennas 901A-901D and RF signals to be transmitted by theleaky wave antennas 910A-901D. The RF front end 911 may compriseamplifiers, such as the amplifiers 903A-903F, mixers, voltage-controlledoscillators (VCOs), filters, and other components needed to process RFsignals. The RF front end 911 may be controlled by a processor, such asthe processor 156 described with respect to FIG. 1.

The lower view in FIG. 7 may illustrate a cross-sectional view of theupper plan view of the support structure 701, illustrating that theleaky wave antennas may extend into the support structure 701.

In operation, RF signals to be transmitted may be communicated to theleaky wave antennas 901A-901D. In an exemplary embodiment, the leakywave antennas that are configured along an axis may receive thedifferential outputs from a single amplifier. For example, the leakywave antennas 901A and 901B may receive the output signals from theamplifier 903C, and the leaky wave antennas 901C and 901D may receivethe output signals from the amplifier 903D, described with respect toFIG. 9A. In this manner, the polarization diversity may be dynamicallycontrolled by controlling the phase of the signals that generate thesignals for transmission, since the signals communicated to oppositeleaky wave antennas, 901A/901B and 901C/901D, receive signals that are180 degrees apart in phase.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary steps for configuringa smart antenna utilizing leaky wave antennas, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 10, in step 1003 afterstart step 1001, a plurality of leaky wave antennas may be configuredfor a desired frequency via MEMS deflection or by selection of one ormore leaky wave antennas with an appropriate cavity height, for example.Similarly, the Q of the cavity may be adjusted by shorting and/oropening slots or patches in the partially reflective surface. Inaddition, the direction of transmission and/or reception of the leakywave antennas may be configured. In step 1005, the polarity and phase ofthe Tx and/or Rx signals may be configured. In step 1007, the RF signalsmay be transmitted by the leaky wave antennas. Alternatively, RF signalsmay be received by the leaky wave antennas and amplified by theconfigured polarity and phase. In step 1009, in instances where thewireless device 150 is to be powered down, the exemplary steps mayproceed to end step 1011. In step 1009, in instances where the wirelessdevice 150 is not to be powered down, the exemplary steps may proceed tostep 1003 to configure the leaky wave antenna at a desiredfrequency/Q-factor/direction of transmission and/or reception.

In an embodiment of the invention, a method and system are disclosed fora programmable polarization antenna 910 including one or more pairs ofleaky wave antennas 164A-164C, 400, 420, 600, 720, 730, 809A-809F, and901A-901D configured along different axes. One or more pairs of leakywave antennas 164A-164C, 400, 420, 600, 720, 730, 809A-809F, and901A-901D may be configured to adjust polarization and/or polarity ofone or more RF signals communicated by the programmable polarizationantenna 910. RF signals may be communicated via the configuredprogrammable polarization antenna 910 utilizing the configured pairs ofleaky wave antennas 164A-164C, 400, 420, 600, 720, 730, 809A-809F, and901A-901D. A resonant frequency of one or more of the plurality of leakywave antennas 164A-164C, 400, 420, 600, 720, 730, 809A-809F, and901A-901D may be configured utilizing micro-electro-mechanical systems(MEMS) deflection.

The polarization and/or polarity may be configured utilizing switchedphase modules 907A, 907B, 909A, 909B. One or more of the plurality ofleaky wave antennas 164A-164C, 400, 420, 600, 720, 730, 809A-809F, and901A-901D may comprise microstrip waveguides, wherein a cavity height ofthe one or more of the plurality of leaky wave antennas is dependent onspacing between conductive lines 723 and 725 in the microstripwaveguides 720. One or more of the plurality of leaky wave antennas164A-164C, 400, 420, 600, 720, 730, 809A-809F, and 901A-901D maycomprise coplanar waveguides 730. A cavity height of the one or more ofthe plurality of leaky wave antennas 164A-164C, 400, 420, 600, 720, 730,809A-809F, and 901A-901D is dependent on spacing between conductivelines 731 and 733 in the coplanar waveguides 730. One or more of theplurality of leaky wave antennas 164A-164C, 400, 420, 600, 720, 730,809A-809F, and 901A-901D may be integrated in one or more integratedcircuits 162, integrated circuit packages 167, and/or printed circuitboards 171.

Other embodiments of the invention may provide a non-transitory computerreadable medium and/or storage medium, and/or a non-transitory machinereadable medium and/or storage medium, having stored thereon, a machinecode and/or a computer program having at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machineand/or computer to perform the steps as described herein for a smartantenna utilizing leaky wave antennas.

Accordingly, aspects of the invention may be realized in hardware,software, firmware or a combination thereof. The invention may berealized in a centralized fashion in at least one computer system or ina distributed fashion where different elements are spread across severalinterconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or otherapparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein issuited. A typical combination of hardware, software and firmware may bea general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, whenbeing loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that itcarries out the methods described herein.

One embodiment of the present invention may be implemented as a boardlevel product, as a single chip, application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), or with varying levels integrated on a single chip with otherportions of the system as separate components. The degree of integrationof the system will primarily be determined by speed and costconsiderations. Because of the sophisticated nature of modernprocessors, it is possible to utilize a commercially availableprocessor, which may be implemented external to an ASIC implementationof the present system. Alternatively, if the processor is available asan ASIC core or logic block, then the commercially available processormay be implemented as part of an ASIC device with various functionsimplemented as firmware.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext may mean, for example, any expression, in any language, code ornotation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having aninformation processing capability to perform a particular functioneither directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversionto another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a differentmaterial form. However, other meanings of computer program within theunderstanding of those skilled in the art are also contemplated by thepresent invention.

While the invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiments disclosed, but that the present inventionwill include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless device comprising: a programmablepolarization antenna, wherein said programmable polarization antennacomprises a pair of leaky wave antennas, said wireless device beingoperable to: configure said pair of leaky wave antennas to adjust apolarity of RF signals communicated by said programmable polarizationantenna; configure an impedance of said pair of leaky wave antennas;communicate said RF signals via said programmable polarization antennautilizing said pair of leaky wave antennas.
 2. The wireless device ofclaim 1, wherein said wireless device is operable to configure saidimpedance of said pair of leaky wave antennas by adjusting a position ofa feed point within said pair of leaky wave antennas.
 3. The wirelessdevice of claim 1, wherein said wireless device is configured to utilizea wireless standard selected from the group of standards consisting ofGSM, CDMA, CDMA2000, WCDMA, GMS, GPRS, EDGE, WIMAX, WLAN, 3GPP, UMTS,BLUETOOTH, and ZigBee standards.
 4. The wireless device of claim 1,wherein said wireless device is operable to configure a resonantfrequency of said pair of leaky wave antennas utilizingmicro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).
 5. The wireless device of claim1, wherein said wireless device is operable to configure said polarityutilizing switched phase modules.
 6. The wireless device of claim 1,wherein said pair of leaky wave antennas comprise microstrip waveguides.7. The wireless device of claim 6, wherein a cavity height of said pairof leaky wave antennas is dependent on a spacing between conductivelines in said microstrip waveguides.
 8. The wireless device of claim 1,wherein said pair of leaky wave antennas comprise coplanar waveguides.9. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein a cavity height of said pairof leaky wave antennas is dependent on a spacing between conductivelines in said coplanar waveguides.
 10. The wireless device of claim 1,wherein said pair of leaky wave antennas are integrated in one or moreintegrated circuits.
 11. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein saidpair of leaky wave antennas are integrated in one or more integratedcircuit packages.
 12. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein said pairof leaky wave antennas are integrated in one or more printed circuitboards.
 13. A method for communication utilizing a wireless device, saidmethod comprising: utilizing a programmable polarization antenna,wherein said programmable polarization antenna comprises a pair of leakywave antennas; configuring said pair of leaky wave antennas to adjust apolarity of RF signals communicated by said programmable polarizationantenna; configuring an impedance of said pair of leaky wave antennas;communicating said RF signals via said programmable polarization antennautilizing said pair of leaky wave antennas.
 14. The method of claim 13,further comprising configuring said impedance of said pair of leaky waveantennas by adjusting a position of a feed point within said pair ofleaky wave antennas.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprisingconfiguring a resonant frequency of said pair of leaky wave antennasutilizing micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).
 16. The method ofclaim 13, further comprising configuring said polarity utilizingswitched phase modules.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein said pair ofleaky wave antennas comprise microstrip waveguides.
 18. The method ofclaim 13, wherein said pair of leaky wave antennas comprise coplanarwaveguides.
 19. The method of claim 13, wherein said pair of leaky waveantennas are integrated in one or more integrated circuits.
 20. Themethod of claim 13, wherein said pair of leaky wave antennas areintegrated in one or more printed circuit boards.